As well as the instantaneous burning of Carlisle. I was upset when his head was ripped off (natch) but didn't truly object until I saw them torch it. A great near-canon battle scene ... it CAN be done.

The combination of the final battle in BD2 and SM's comments on her website lead me to believe that at least a piece of her is still in that place she was back in August of 2008 when MS was stolen. It honestly hurts my heart a little to think that we would have lost even more of them.

corona wrote:I'm actually glad she decided not to offer a bizarre retrofit explanation per Alice's visions and Nessie and the wolfpack, although I would have enjoyed the attempt.

I agree.

corona wrote:I've only seen the movie once, and I don't remember if Alec bites the dust, but the wiki says he did. So the battle deaths (as envisioned by Stephenie) appear to follow proper order, Jane and Alec first and then ultimately Bella, although hers is only suggested by the oncoming guard at the end of the vision.

Alec dies before Jane. She sees him die, although I can't remember who kills him.

corona wrote:This was a well thought out battle scene. I love it when things work on multiple levels. As we know, dismembered vampires can be put back together again as long as they aren't burned. This is one little detail the canon fans are quite aware of, even though it has never been depicted. Not much time to burn body parts when engaged in a battle. Bella does take the time, though, when she and Edward take Aro apart. That's great for the cinematic visual, but also great for the canon fans who would quibble (I know I would) if Aro had fallen but we hadn't seen him get burned. Aro has to burn. Thank you Bill and Melissa and Stephenie. It is appreciated.

I know in a long shot of the battlefield it is clear that there is a bonfire on either side of the fighting line, so I think that, at the very least, while vampires were being dismembered, their heads were pitched into the nearest fire.

Just going to respond randomly and share some of my thoughts. BTW, I will be discussing painful battle scenes.

1. After the battle starts there are a few fire pits scattered around, plus I think there's hot lava at the bottom of the chasm, so no reassembling there either.

2. Emmett decapitated Alec by stepping on his neck and separating his body from his head and this was all right after Alec had tackled Bella and Jane was able to use her power so Felix could hold Jasper's hands behind his back and Demetri could decapitate Jasper with one hand. Crazy.

Ya know, I just noticed all the decapitations were done differently.

3. Also another gloomier thought came to me, I was kind of happy that we didn't see anymore Cullens be destroyed, (THANK YOU BC) but technically even if Esme and Alice had survived the battle they would have become suicidal anyway. What's even more tragic than that is, unlike Edward who had the option in NM of a quick suicide because of the Volturi, the only option at this point of the vision-battle, that I see anyway, is for Esme and Alice to stand in a fire and wait to be no more. Sooooooooo sad.

Jazz Girl, let me offer an alternative explanation for that, even though I can't be sure.

If the Cullens lose, they all die. Stephenie is saying it a little different, though, in that she wants it portrayed on film and not suggested offscreen. That's a little troubling, but she may well be saying that as a rebuke to anyone who was critical of her canon ending being anti-climatic and lame, as in, "Be careful what you wish for."

That may be the source of what seems to be callousness. I'd put my bets on that more. She did (and still does) receive a lot of criticism for that.

It wouldn't surprise me if SM found the favorable reaction to the movie ending a little bittersweet, happy for its success but a little peeved that the movie ironically appears to vindicate fans who thought a little action there at the end of the book was the right way to go.

Know what I mean? Imagine fans telling her, and I'm sure they have, "OMG, this was SO MUCH BETTER than I expected!!!"

"It will take an amazing amount of control,” she mused. “More even than Carlisle has. He may be just strong enough…the only thing he’s not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That’s a lost cause.”

Coronaoh, I understand the device of it. Of course they needed to make it visual. That's always been a struggle in translating much of The Saga to film. Because much of what we absolutely must know to understand happens internally, it's absolutely necessary. I don't mind that at all. I'm just wondering if the loss of so many, including Edward, isn't just a bit of residual hurt being exercised. I mean, those were her words after all. She did say that, had she been asked to finish MS after it was leaked, then it would end with all the Cullen's in ashes and Bella being turned by James.

I saw the film again today and it still and will likely always irritate me to know end that Edward's mind reading ability and its benefits in a fight are just constantly forgotten and/or overlooked.

I don't think in the fight Edward's gift is overlooked. There are so many "voices" that he doesn't know, it would be difficult for him to keep a hold of one when you know he's still also "checking" in on Nessie and the rest of the family.

AmandaBeth & Tornado~ I'm sorry but I don't buy that. Edward has been most forthcoming about the expansiveness of his mental faculties, as well as his ability to focus on multiple sources of input at once with no issues whatsoever. Add to that the fact that his prowess as the second best fighter in the family as well as one of the larger threats specifically due to his mindreading ability being touted throughout The Saga, and it does not add up. We get the best look at how he functions in a fight in Eclipse. Even when focusing on Victoria, Riley, Seth, plus all of the goings-on in the field, he has absolutely no problem always being one step ahead of Victoria. Plus, simply in reference to the films, they showed him being "surprised" by Carlisle during the training scene in EC. Even MR commented that it was one way that they went about 'humanizing' Edward to make him more relateable. No, sorry. This is one thing that they've gotten wrong from the beginning that I just cannot let go. He would never be caught unawares by Bella's body hurling at him. He'd never be on the ground at the mercy of Demetri.